Digital Public Health and Health Communications SIG

This SIG was established in June 2023 to cover both Digital Public Health and Health Communications, in recognition that whilst the focus and workstreams of these areas are distinct, they will oftentimes be complementary. The joint SIG will allow for greater collaboration on overlapping topics, as well as a broader scope overall than if separate groups were set up. The SIG will contribute to the new Board-led focus area on the future of public health practice.

Digital Public Health

Digital Public Health is the application of the culture, practices, processes and technologies of the Internet-era to the art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life, promoting health, and reducing inequalities.

All areas of public health practice (security, promotion, and healthcare) have the potential to be radically changed by digital innovation and artificial intelligence (AI). Digital technologies and AI are providing opportunities to improve health, generating new health harms, and raising challenging ethical and policy questions. This SIG will offer a broad cross-cutting perspective of the impact and issues of digital across the entirety of public health practice.

The Digital Public Health side of the SIG will have the following workplan items:

  1. Prevent and reduce digital-driven harms
  2. Promote digital solutions and digital equity
  3. Support digital literacy

These workstreams would aim to:

  • Act to further digital public health aims, for example by developing and advocating policies and programmes, responding to consultations, producing briefings, research etc.
  • Act as an expert resource to FPH and its members.
  • Seek to build active collaborations and partnerships to advance work across the three work streams and extend FPH influence in digital spaces.
  • Develop CPD resources for FPH members to develop expertise in digital public health and AI.
Health Communications

Effective communications are essential to good public health and help those outside the public health sphere understand our profession and the role that public health professionals play.

The Health Communications side of the SIG will focus on the following activities:

  • Explore the science of public health communications
  • Shape the public health narrative
  • Understand cultural competence in public health messaging and programmes
  • Support excellence in public health communications
  • Build and maintain relationships with health marketing, communications, and digital media on health
  • Develop mobile, digital, and e-health communications
Contact

The Digital Public Health and Health Communications SIG reports to the Health Improvement Committee (HIC).

Co-chairs:

Digital Public Health

Joining the SIG

Please note that in order to join any SIG you are required to be a member of the Faculty of Public Health. To find further details on how to join an FPH SIG please see here.

 

 

 

Top